FOLKSTON, Ga.

(AP)
Fire information officers say
rain helped slow the huge
Honey Prairie Fire on the Oke-
fenokee National Wildlife
Refuge during the weekend.
Rich Phelps, an information
officer for the Okefenokee
fires, says the area received up
to half an inch of rain on Sat-
urday.
Phelps says heavy thunder-
storms that came through
southeast Georgia Saturday
sparked a fire in northern
Camden County that firefight-
ers contained to 18 acres.
Phelps put the Honey
Prairie Fire at 295,415 acres.
He says all public entrances
to the refuge remain closed.

Texas Schools May Fire

Former Atlanta Official
ATLANTA (AP) Trustees
of a Texas school district are
scheduled to meet amid con-
cerns involving their new su-
perintendent, who came to
them fromAtlanta amid an in-
vestigation of cheating on
standardized tests.
Trustees of the DeSoto In-
dependent School District, a
9,000-student district in the
Dallas area, are scheduled to
meet Monday night to discuss
the future of just-hired Super-
intendent Kathy Augustine.
The district hired the 60-
year-old Augustine in April.
Shes a former deputy superin-
tendent of the Atlanta school
district.
The DeSoto boards agenda
includes the possibility of ter-
minating Augustines contract.
Augustine denies any
wrongdoing in Atlanta, where
teachers and officials are ac-
cused of falsifying and misrep-
resenting student test scores.
She says she discussed the in-
vestigation with DeSoto offi-
cials while she was being con-
sidered for the $188,000-a-
year job.

UGA Reports $5 Million In

2010 Business Income
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) The
University of Georgia has re-
ported making more than $5
million in whats termed unre-
lated business income during
the 2010 fiscal year.
The Athens Banner-Herald
reports that returns filed with
the Internal Revenue Service
show the income from the uni-
versitys golf course, the Geor-
gia Center for Continuing Ed-
ucation, summer camps and
other sources not specifically
tied to UGAs main education-
al missions.
An IRS form shows UGAre-
ceived net income of
$5,001,708 from such opera-
tions in the fiscal year that
ended June 30, 2010.
UGA listed nearly $1.2 mil-
lion in operating expenses for
the golf course, $358,000 for
summer camps and $271,610
for the Georgia Center. The
university says unrelated
business expenses exceeded
income for the fiscal year.

Another Hot Week

Predicted For Georgia
ATLANTA (AP) More
temperatures well into the 90s
are forecast for Georgia this
week.
Except for slightly cooler
weather in the mountains, the
National Weather Service says
Georgians can expect highs in
the 90s at least through
Thursday. The weather service
is calling for highs in the mid
to upper 90s on Tuesday.
Forecasters say theres a
chance of showers and thun-
derstorms around the state
every day this week.
The good news for metro At-
lanta is the states Environ-
mental Protection Division ex-
pects air quality to be moder-
ate on Monday.

Ga. Commission To Host

Renewable Energy Forum
ATLANTA (AP) The
Georgia Public Service Com-
mission is hosting a forum at
the Capitol on renewable en-
ergy.
The commission on Mon-
day is bringing together ex-
perts from utilities, indus-
tries and other parts of re-
newable energy to give infor-
mation on technology and in-
vestment options, as well as
whats happening in Georgia
when it comes to green tech-
nology.
The Courier Herald Monday, Juy 11, 2011/Dublin, Ga/Page 3a
*CASH ONLY. Excludes new Fall arrivals, Spanx,
jewelry, and basics. Not valid on prior purchases. Some
manufacturers exlusions apply, see store for details.
Ivy Place, Dublin
Mon-Fri 10 - 6 Saturday 10 - 4
50-75
%
OFF*
Storewide
20
%
OFF*
New Summer
Arrivals
The Laurens County
Board of Registrars will be
holding their monthly meeting
on July 11, 2011 at 5 p.m. in
the registrars office in the Lau-
rens County Courthouse An-
nex Building located a 117
East Jackson Street, Suite A.
The agenda as is follows:
Call to order;
roll call;
minutes of previous meeting;
old business
discussion of electors chal-
lenged on June 13, 2010;
revenue expenditures and out-
lay;
new business
discussion of electors to be
challenged
expenditures session.
The Laurens County
Board of Education Work
Session will be held on Mon-
day, July 11, 2011, at 6 p.m. at
the Board Office on Firetower
Road. This will be the boards'
regular monthly work session.
The City of Rentz is hav-
ing a council meeting Monday,
July 11, 2011 at 7 p.m. at City
Hall.
The agenda as is follows:
Call to order;
Invocation;
Approval of June 2011 Min-
utes;
Approval of Financial State-
ment;
Acknowledge Visitors;
Old Business;
New Business;
Comments;
Adjourn.
The next regular meet-
ing of the East Dublin
Mayor and Council will be
held at City Hall in the Terrie
E. Drew Council Chambers on
Monday, July 11, 2011 at 6
p.m. with Pre-Council begin-
ning at 5:30 pm. Below is the
meeting agenda:
Call to Order;
Invocation;
Pledge to Flag;
Approval of Minutes;
Approval of Bills;
Additions / Deletion to Agen-
da;
Resolution: TEA Grant;
Contract: DOT - TEA Grant;
Recognition of Citizens;
Council Comments;
Adjourn.
City of Dudley Council
Meeting, Tuesday, July 12,
2011 at 7 p.m.
The agenda as is follows:
Meeting Called to Order;
Invocation/Pledge to Ameri-
can Flag;
Approval of June 14, 2011
Minutes;
Recognition of Guests;
Dudley Little League 9-10
All Stars, District Champs;
Old Business;
New Business;
Presentation of 2010 Audit,
Dana Ingrando;
Approval of Bills;
Council comments;
Executive Session;
Meeting Adjorned.
News Digest....
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) The
astronauts on NASA's final space shuttle
flight got cracking Monday on all their
supply delivery work, successfully hoist-
ing a giant trunk out of Atlantis and at-
taching it to the International Space Sta-
tion.
The 21-foot canister holds more than 4
tons of food, clothes and other provisions
enough to keep the orbiting outpost
and its residents in business for at least
another year.
Shuttle astronauts Sandra Magnus
and Douglas Hurley used the space sta-
tion's hulking robot arm to hoist the Ital-
ian-built chamber, named Raffaello, out
of Atlantis' payload bay first thing Mon-
day morning. They moved it into position
on the station and bolted it down, accom-
plishing the job an hour ahead of sched-
ule.
The astronauts planned to open the
hatch and enter Raffaello later in the day,
and start removing all the trays and bags
of supplies.
They also got some good news Monday:
NASA no longer has any concern about a
piece of space junk due to swing by Tues-
day.
On Sunday, mission management
team leader LeRoy Cain said controllers
were monitoring the orbiting debris and
that there was a chance it might come
dangerously close. But on Monday, ex-
perts ascertained that the object a
piece of an old Soviet-era satellite
would remain at a safe distance and the
shuttle-station complex would not need to
move out of the way.
Mission Control said Sunday's docking
by Atlantis actually lifted the joined ves-
sels into a slightly higher orbit of 242
miles just enough to dodge the piece of
junk.
Space junk is said to be the No. 1
threat facing the space station in the
coming decade. More than 500,000 pieces
of orbiting debris are being tracked, ac-
cording to NASA. Two weeks ago, the six
space station residents had to seek shel-
ter in their lifeboats when a piece of junk
came within 1,100 feet the closest en-
counter yet.
In another bit of welcome news, a crit-
ical shuttle computer was back up and
running normally again after being
knocked offline just before Sunday's
linkup.
The 10 space fliers will spend the next
week unloading the contents of Raffaello
and filling the chamber back up with
packing material, and space station
garbage and old equipment.
Lead flight director Kwatsi Alibaruho
said the back-and-forth load work by the
astronauts will be like an army of ants
moving in and out of their anthill.
NASA wants the space station well-
stocked for the looming post-shuttle era.
Private companies are working on rockets
and spacecraft to deliver cargo, but that's
still months away and there's always the
chance of delays.
The ultimate goal in three to five
years is for these same companies to
ferry astronauts to and from the space
station. Until then, NASA will keep
shelling out tens of millions of dollars per
seat aboard the Russian Soyuz space-
craft.
The two U.S. space station residents,
meanwhile, will venture out on a space-
walk Tuesday. They will retrieve a broken
ammonia pump and stash it aboard At-
lantis for return to Earth late next week.
Engineers want to figure out why it failed
last year, to avoid future such break-
downs in orbit. The pair also will attach a
robotic refueling experiment to the space
station.
Four astronauts are flying on Atlantis
and six on the space station. They repre-
sent the United States, Russia and
Japan.
Atlantis is the last of NASA's three re-
maining shuttles to be retired, as the
space agency turns its focus on expedi-
tions to an asteroid and Mars. It will re-
main at Kennedy Space Center upon its
return and be put on public display.
Astronauts Get Busy With
Space Station Stockpiling
AP photo
This frame grab from NASA-TV shows space shuttle Atlantis docked
at the International Space Station, Sunday, July 10, 2011. Atlantis is de-
livering more than 4 tons of food, clothes and other space station pro-
visions an entire year's worth, in fact, to keep the complex going in
the looming post-shuttle era. Atlantis' journey marks the final shuttle
mission by NASA. (AP Photo/NASA)
dollars by avoiding the cost of
leased space.
Both Pardons and Paroles
and Probation were located
downtown not too far from the
court house. Parole has been at
its current location since De-
cember 1999. According to
Dublin Chief Probation Officer,
Eddie Bozeman, Probation has
been in its current location
since 2004.
The new location is a build-
ing owned by the Department
of Corrections.
That is why we can make
this move and save the state
this money, Hayes said. I be-
lieve corrections has used in-
mate labor to retrofit this
building and make it suitable
for office space.
According to Stancil, the re-
location will not impact our
non-negotiable mission to pro-
tect and serve the public.
The new facility will pro-
vide additional space for staff
resulting in improved service
delivery to the offenders and to
the community, she said.
Hayes said the move will
save the parole board approxi-
mately $37,000 the first year.
Our current lease is ap-
proximately $54,975, he said.
We will incur some moving
costs, telecommunications
costs of about $18,000 the first
year. After that, it is all sav-
ings, all $55,000, and we will
split utilities with the Depart-
ment of Corrections and State
Probation.
Hayes added that the
Dublin Pardons and Paroles of-
fice has a total of six parole of-
ficers, as assistant chief and
chief (eight total officers)
whose coverage area is Bleck-
ley, Dodge, Johnson, Laurens,
Pulaski and Twiggs counties.
He said the total case load av-
erage is 590 parolees and the
caseload average is 90.5.
Moving
Continued from 1a
the size of the throng that
watched Apollo 11 shoot the
moon in 1969.
It was the 135th shuttle
flight since the inaugural mis-
sion in 1981.
"What an amazing week I
have had," Cleveland said. "I
have to thank a whole bunch of
people for making this hap-
pen."
Cleveland said she planned
to use the Atlantis tweetup as
a professional development
tool in her classroom in coming
years. Besides watching the
launch, Cleveland was able to
speak with shuttle technicians,
engineers, astronauts, and
managers, and to experience
the launch of space shuttle At-
lantis to the International
Space Station.
Cleveland also met with fel-
low educators, scientists, com-
puter programers, social media
specialists, and people from
many walks of life that she
feels will give her feedback and
experiences to share with her
classes.
Look for Cleveland's com-
plete update in Tuesday's edi-
tion.
The Associated Press con-
tributed to this report.
Cleveland
Continued from 1a
showed some Southern Pride
and gave the events their very
best tossing toilet seats, spit-
tin' watermelon seeds, and
even bobbin' for pigs feet.
"This right here is the cul-
tural capitol of Georgia," stat-
ed Geema Oliver, a Georgia na-
tive who currently lives in In-
stanbul, Turkey. Oliver came
home just for the Redneck
Games even bringing along a
Chinese friend, Yanzhuo
Zhang, to witness the event.
"I just came to watch,"
laughed Zhang as she glanced
over the crowd. "But I like it so
far."
While there were plenty of
out-of-towners in the park on
Saturday, the majority of the
people were local 'necks who
show up for the Games every
year.
"We sorta make this our
family reunion spot," said Bry-
on Wampler of Douglas. "The
whole family comes out, and
we sure do have a good time
every year."
The locals showed out at
this year's Redneck Games
competitions. Dublin native,
Hunter Bell, blew away the
competition in the Watermelon
Seed Spittin' contest. Nine
year-old Aubrey Matthews
clenched the trophy for the
Armpit Serenade for the third
year straight. He awed the
crowd with "Cotton Eyed Joe"
using both his armpit and the
back of his leg.
As expected, various media
crews swarmed each competi-
tion attempting to catch the ac-
tion. A German TV station
filmed the events with a spe-
cial twist. A German girl and
an American girl competed at
each event as "America vs.
Germany."
"This is quite an event,"
stated the camera man for the
Travel Channel, who drove up
with his crew from Orlando,
Florida. "I think we got some
great shots to show people
what this is all about."
As the afternoon continued,
people crowded around the pit
for the much anticipated Mud
Pit Belly Flop Contest cheering
as the backhoe stirred up the
pit. Rednecks of all shapes and
sizes flopped, arms spread
wide, into the Georgia clay
splashing the many onlookers.
Even the afternoon showers
couldn't dampen the Redneck
spirit or keep folks out of the
mud pit.
As the afternoon came to a
close, about $4,000 had been
raised for charity, and the clay-
stained, sunburnt rednecks
called it a day. For the first-
timers, it was a day to be re-
membered forever, but for the
true-to-heart rednecks, it was
just another day under the
Georgia sun spent with friends
and family.
"Everything went pretty
good," said Larry Drew, East
Dublin City Administrator. "I
think we all had a good time."
Continued from 1a
Games
"I think we got
some great
shots to show
people what
this is all
about."
TravelChannel
Cameraman
Rain Helps Slow Okefenokee Refuge Fire